Tryon man pleads guilty to assaulting woman, gets 15 years

Staff

Tuesday

Sep 11, 2018 at 3:28 PMSep 11, 2018 at 6:49 PM

Dwayne Dennis Forney, 90 Peake St., Tryon, was sentenced last week in the Polk County Superior Court to 178 months in prison for assaulting a Spartanburg, South Carolina woman who lost the use of an eye after the attack.

Forney appeared in court with his attorney and pleaded guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill, the office of District Attorney Greg Newman announced Tuesday.

Newman represented the state and advised Superior Court Judge Gregory Horne that the defendant wished to plead guilty instead of taking his case to trial.

“The facts in support of the charge were very strong,” Newman said. “The victim suffered permanent, debilitating injuries and is fortunate to have survived the attack by the defendant.”

Tryon police were called to St. Luke’s Hospital March 19, 2017, where they spoke briefly to Faleisha Tanner of Spartanburg. Due to the severity of her injuries, Tanner was being prepared for air transport to Mission Hospital in Asheville when she identified the defendant as the person who attacked her with a knife, Newman said.

Tanner was receiving emergency treatment for wounds to both her face and neck. She ultimately lost the use of her left eye.

According to an eyewitness of the crime, Jimeka McBeth, the defendant and Tanner had been in a dating relationship. Forney had been a passenger in Tanner’s car and she drove him home to 90 Peake St. in Tryon on the evening of March 19. Tanner was driving and McBeth was in the front passenger seat. Forney sat in the backseat.

When Forney exited the car, he walked around to the driver’s window and said “Look what I got," Newman said. Forney then stabbed Tanner in the left temple and neck area.

Lead investigator, Capt. Tim Wright of the Tryon Police Department, questioned Forney, who remembered playing with a knife while in the car, but “blacked out” and could not remember what he did to Tanner, Newman said.

According to the defendant’s mother, Forney dropped the weapon inside the home after she saw him stab the victim several times. He acknowledged to his mother that he had attacked the victim, but gave no apparent reason for doing so, Newman said.

Wright recovered the weapon from the residence.

Forney had previously been charged with assaulting Tanner in South Carolina, but there had been no arguing or threats of violence on the incident date, Newman said.

“In pre-trial discussions with Ms. Tanner, it appears that she was not as interested in a romantic relationship with Forney as much as he was with her,” said Newman. “That is the only motive that the police and the victim have been able to provide. Ms. Tanner suffered a significant loss of blood and was in a medically induced coma at Mission due to brain swelling. So we had to wait for several weeks before we could meet with her and discuss the facts.

"She has been very helpful to us in our prosecution and she is a courageous young lady. Naturally, I wish her all the best going forward. Hopefully the defendant’s admission of guilty and long prison sentence will give her a sense of comfort.

"I also appreciate the excellent police work by Capt. Tim Wright and officers Bill Smith and Alan Corn. They did a great job in securing the weapon, the defendant and in obtaining information from the witnesses. The people of Tryon are very well served by their local police."

Forney will be in the North Carolina prison system for almost 15 years. He will be eligible for parole after serving 11 years and 6 months.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.